Aphrodite's Curse
WIP Aphrodite's Curse ---- Day One Leo Valdez exited Bunker Nine in a great mood. Another day had passed, and he did a pretty good job working/planning for the Argo II. It was New Years Eve, and there was an event going to be held in the Amphitheater after sing-along to welcome the new three hundred and sixty five days. Leo walked out from the woods with his siblings and marched toward their cabin when they heard a horn being blown in a distance. “Dinnertime, guys!” Leo announced, and hurriedly they formed a line and instead marched toward the dining pavilion. They sat down on their cabin’s table and did the usual dinner stuff. Then they talked about their plans for the New Year, their new year’s resolutions, and stuff similar to that. Leo let his cabin mates chat within themselves, and looked around the other cabins’ tables. Jason was sitting alone in the Zeus cabin’s table. Leo wanted to break the silence surrounding his friend’s eating zone by sliding in and start making fun of his cropped hair, or drag Piper beside him. Anything that would make him cheery. (Romans, why do they always have to be serious?) Chiron the centaur walked towards Jason’s table and said something to him. Jason frowned. They appeared to be talking about something really serious, Roman camp maybe. He watched Jason as he stood from his seat and followed Chiron out of the pavilion. Leo continued to move his eyes around other tables. When his eyes wandered on the Aphrodite Cabin, he frowned. Not a single camper was sitting on their table. There were no Aphrodite kids in sight, including Piper. “I wonder who’s going to be cursed this time,” Someone from Leo’s table whispered. “Well, I sure hope it isn’t going to be me!” another one chimed. Leo turned back to his cabin mates when he noticed they were huddled up closely together like some rugby team. “What curse? Are you talking about Cabin Nine curse?” “Oh no, this is different,” Jake, Leo’s right hand man for the Hephaestus cabin, said in a whisper. “We’re talking about the New Year’s Curse of the gods.” “What about it?” “It’s a random curse given to one of the campers here by a god,” Nyssa started. “It happens every year in camp. The Olympian gods decide which one of them is going to be the curser and then later, they’ll decide who’s going to be cursed among us.” “It can either be a good curse or a bad curse.” Another one of Leo’s siblings continued, “Some curses can give you good things, some not, and some are just plain useless.” “But still,” Nyssa shrugged, “I hope I’m not going to be picked. I have enough of curses—good or bad—this year.” “Let’s all just hope we all have a curse-free year,” Leo said, patting everyone’s back in assurance. A minute later, someone had tapped his shoulder. Leo turned around to see Piper in…some kind of Indian costume. She wore a long cream-colored skirt and a short blouse of the same color. There were sashes wrapped around her body, with bracelets as accessories. Her hair was braided and she didn’t have make-up, but never mind that, she still looked pretty. “What’s up, princess? Out dancing for snakes?” Leo said, grinning. Piper arched an eyebrow, “What’s funny?” “Nothing, nothing at all. So, is there something you want to ask?” “Um, not really,” Piper glanced behind her. Her fellow siblings were standing in a distance, all wearing the same costume Piper was wearing. They were bustling about their hair and make-up, not realizing that they were just worsening their looks. “Actually, Leo, it’s our cabin’s turn to lead the occasion,” Piper followed Leo’s gaze. “Originally we were supposed to perform some Greek dance, but then I suggested we should try something different. Then it was Drew’s idea of an Indian theme, and I didn’t have much of a choice. I just hope the gods aren’t going to get angry at me.” “And you’re telling me this…why?” “Oh, I don’t know,” Piper admitted, “I’m not really comfortable dancing when people are watching me.” “And then there’s Jason,” Leo grinned again. “You’re uncomfortable because you’re gonna dance in front of Jason.” He tried stifled a laugh when Piper’s face turn red. “The brave Piper McLean, can save distressed fathers and charm people to do stuff, but afraid to dance in front the love of her—Ouf! Okay, okay, I’lf shtop, shtop! Now, gef yo foof off my face! I’m eafing!” (Translation: “Ouch! Okay, okay, I’ll stop, stop! Now, get your foot of my face! I’m eating!”) The whole pavilion’s attention turn toward the Hephaestus cabin’s table and watched the two friends amusingly. “For the last time, Leo…” Piper said loudly, and Leo was getting the feeling that he wasn’t the only being told here. “He’s not my boyfriend.” “I gef fa ficfure. Now, puf the foof down. If’s unhygienic for me, and I should frobrably shtop falking now because your foof…tasted fike foof.” (Translation: “I get the picture. Now, put the foot down. It’s unhygienic for me, and I should probably stop talking now because your foot…tastes like foot.”) Everyone in the area shuddered, even Mr. D. They couldn’t imagine what feet would actually taste like. Unless they tried it, and that’s just unhygienic. ---- After sing-along, everyone fell silent as the Apollo kids cleared out the amphitheater stage and the Aphrodite cabin made their entrance. Leo sneaked out from his cabin’s row and sat beside Jason. “Oh hey, Leo,” he greeted and looked up to the guys and girls on the stage. “Is that Piper?” Jason said incredulously. Leo stifled a giggle. “Yeah, that’s her. Unbelievable, right?” They chatted about a few things before the show started. When Piper glanced at his direction, Leo gave her a thumbs-up. But that didn’t help when he was sitting beside Jason. After their cute performance on stage, the Aphrodite kids exited and sat to their own place among the campers. Suddenly, the noise and chatter died down. Then the atmosphere became tense. Were they waiting for something to happen? “So, what are we all waiting for?” Leo said, breaking the tension. The campers turned to look at him and shushed him, putting their fingers to their lips and staring at him like he was crazy. Jason looked surprised as well from the sudden reaction. “It’s time,” someone whispered from Leo’s back. They simply sat down and waited. Then a few minutes later, a gust of wind came into the stands, almost blowing Leo and a few other campers out of their seats. When it stopped, Leo’s eyes were itchy. He was rubbing wherever it was in his eyes when he heard Jason say, “Are you alright?” “Yeah, just dust or whatever,” Leo blinked. “So, who got it?” someone shouted from the back row. The silence was broken down by whispers and mutters among the crowd. “No one?” another one said. “I think no one got it.” “Oh my gods, it’s a miracle!” Then everyone started cheering and shouting in glee. “We’re free!” “Freedom! Holy chickens, freedom!” “Merry Christmas!” Chiron stomped his hooves on the marble floor to maintain silence. He looked up nervously to the sky and then glanced at Leo for a moment before he cleared his throat. “It seems that Olympus is still closed,” he announced, “Perhaps the gods aren’t in a mood, to—ah—''choose'' a candidate. But I would think otherwise to celebrate.” After that, the campers exited out of the amphitheater and resumed back into their own cabins. Category:Works-in-progress Category:FlamingoValdez